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So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.”
“You have wearied the L
ORD
with your words. ‘How have we wearied
him?’ you ask. By saying, ‘All who do evil are good in the eyes of the L
ORD
,
and he is pleased with them’ or
‘Whe r e i s t he God o f j us t i c e ? ’
‘
Se e , I wi l l
s end my me s s eng e r , who wi l l pr epar e t he way be f o r e me
. Then suddenly
the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the
covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the L
ORD
Almighty.”
‘“But who can endure the day of his coming [who’s coming]? Who can
stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s
soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites
[the faithful—remnant] and refine them like gold and silver. Then the L
ORD
will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings
of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the L
ORD
, as in days gone by,
as in former years. ‘So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick
to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who
defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless,
and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the L
ORD
Almighty.’”
“‘ I the L
ORD
do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not
destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away
from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to
you,’ says the L
ORD
Almighty. But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ ‘Will a
man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ ‘In
tithes and offerings [such is man’s standard and yet gives the least to God].
You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing
me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my
house. Test me in this, says the L
ORD
Almighty, and see if I will not throw
open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will
not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your
crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,’ says the L
ORD
Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a
delightful land,’ says the L
ORD
Almighty.”
‘“You have said harsh things against me,’ says the L
ORD
. ‘Yet you ask,
‘What have we said against you?’ You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God.’
What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like
mourners before the L
ORD
Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed.
Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.